166 OSTRICH-FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



an incision made alongside the last rib ; the finger is 

 then inserted, and the testicles or the ovary extracted, 

 the incision then being sewn up in the usual manner. 



Some years ago, in conjunction with the late 

 Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, we made several attempts 

 upon male Ostriches ; and although we succeeded in 

 extracting the testicles, the birds all died : the failure 

 being caused apparently by the testicles being closely 

 connected with the two large blood-veins that extend 

 down the back-bone, which became ruptured in the 

 teai'ing away of the testicles, which is apparently not 

 liable to happen in poultry, the testicles being much 

 more freely, suspended. 



Another obstacle to the successful operation in the 

 Ostrich is the much smaller size of the testicles in com- 

 parison to poultry : being only about the same size in an 

 Ostrich of two years old as in a cockerel of six weeks. 



Should any of my readers feel inclined to make 

 experiments in this line, they must bear in mind the 

 difference of the internal construction of poultry from 

 that of the Ostrich, which reverses the side the incision 

 should be made upon, wdiich in the Ostrich must be on 

 the riofht side to have anv chance of success. But it 

 would be as w^ell to draw the reader's attention to a few 

 of these marked diiferences. 



In the fowl, in the place of the Ostrich's stomach 



